Fresh off a trip to Harrisburg Tuesday to advocate for reform of the state’s education funding formula, Galambos said she doesn’t like the way the state has “kicked the can” down to the school district. Still, she thought the board did the best it could considering financial constraints.

“While I don’t like it at all, I feel 2.52 percent is fair,” Galambos said.

Other board members said more could have been trimmed from the spending plan to reduce the tax burden on residents.

Lynn Bigelow said he wouldn’t vote for any tax increase above 2 percent.

“I’m not in favor of the way we sliced this down,” he said, expressing feeling that the board should have shot for a lower increase from the beginning of the process. “It’s time, in my mind, to ratchet down for a bit.”

“It’s unfair to the silent majority,” who don’t have students in the district, Bouher said. “All I’ve heard is, ‘Don’t cut this, don’t cut that, save this, save that.’ What I haven’t heard is how to pay for it.”

Among the big cuts which were proposed in the course of the budget cycle were the potential furlough of three Perkiomen Valley High School teachers, moving the sixth grade exploratory language program back to seventh grade, eliminating third-grade strings and eliminating Spanish class in the elementary schools.

All of those items remain in the 2014-15 budget approved by the board Thursday night.

Aditionally, the “academic” course track will remain on the books for 2014-15.

Cut from the budget for 2014-15 budget was 10 percent from all building budgets and 10 percent from the athletic department, among other items.

“We’re at the point where every single thing we want to cut hurts,” board member Snyder said.

Snyder noted some measures have been added that will increase what is asked from families in the district with students, including raising extracurricular fees from $50 to $100, increasing parking fees at the high school, and the discontinuation of the district paying for a student’s first Advanced Placement (AP) exam.

As a part of the budget, nine total teachers who retired or resigned will not have their positions filled again.

Several of those cuts saved the positions of the high school teachers set for furlough.

Superintendent Clifford Rogers said that average class size should not be affected, but they’ll have to get creative with the remaining staff.

“It would require some of our certified teachers to move from one assignment to a different one,” Rogers said.

He also said some courses might have to be offered every other year instead of annually.

Business Administrator Jim Weaver gave a budget presentation before Thursday’s vote, which included a five-year projection into the future for Perkiomen Valley’s budget.

The projection included a raise in the Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS) contributions by 10 percent per year.

By 2019-20, the district’s expenditures, largely due to health benefits and PSERS increases, are projected to grow by approximately $10 million from the 2014-15 budget.

The shortfall from revenue to expenditures for 2019-20 is expected to be approximately $8 million. Even just for the next budget cycle, 2015-16, the shortfall is expected to be around $2.7 million.

“These are just pure basic items that we’re showing tonight,” Weaver said, adding that gas prices and other similar factors could not be included in the projections.

As such, although the 2014-15 budget cycle is closed, the district is already in the hole for the 2015-16.

“All of those cuts that were (proposed) are back on the table next year,” Bouher said.

The school board has urged residents in recent months to appeal to the state legislature to change the public school funding formula, which they’ve called “unfair.”

Galambos said the chance of quick education funding reform is thin.

“It will be a long and tenuous road for the school funding formula,” Galambos said.

Instead, a spokesperson for Gov. Tom Corbertt told her the district might want to lobby for a “Ready to Learn Grant” the governor hopes to establish, though Smith expressed that there is doubt “the money will be there” when the state’s budget becomes reality.

Snyder also tempered some of the enthusiasm for the grant, saying that districts might get them “for a year or two and then we have to pick up the cost.”

“I am leery of grants,” she said.

Repeatedly, board members expressed that the picture isn’t pretty for future budgets without a change in funding formulas.

“This year was hell and next year is not going to get any better,” Mantey said during talks about reconfiguring the board’s finance committee.